Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Confidentiality definition

What does Confidentiality mean? In legal practice, confidentiality is the obligation to keep a client’s information and affairs private and to use or disclose it only with proper authority. For lawyers, this duty of confidentiality arises from professional conduct rules (e.g., the SRA Standards and Regulations; the Law Society of Scotland Standards of Conduct; the Law Society of Northern Ireland rules; and the Law Society of Ireland guidance), from contract (engagement terms and non‑disclosure agreements), and from the equitable duty of confidence recognised in case law (breach of confidence). It sits alongside, but is distinct from, legal professional privilege, which protects defined categories...

Open Justice, Privacy, Anonymity and Redaction in the First-tier and Upper Tax Tribunals: Hearings, Decisions and Access to Documents

Published by a LexisNexis Tax expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note is authored by Anne Redston, Barrister. It reflects her personal perspective; she is not authorised to speak for the Tribunals Service or the judiciary. This has long been important, as people seek to shield their financial affairs from public scrutiny.

This Practice Note considers:

whether hearings may take place in private
whether the final decision can be anonymised, and
whether documents or information connected to the hearing can be anonymised

It addresses the position in the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) and the Upper Tribunal (UT). This summary does not cover every circumstance, and you may need further advice for your Client’s situation. It does not extend to appeals or reviews of decisions by Revenue Scotland concerning any Scottish devolved taxes within the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Tax Chamber). For details, see Practice Note: Appealing a Revenue Scotland decision.

The open justice principle

In Cape, the Supreme Court explained that all courts and tribunals must observe the open justice principle for two reasons: ‘the first is to enable public scrutiny of’...

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Anne Redston

Anne Redston is consultant editor of Tolley’s Yellow Tax Handbook and a judge of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) and of the First-tier Tribunal sitting in the Tax and Social Entitlement Chambers. Her contributions to TolleyGuidance and LexisPSL Tax are her personal view as she is not authorised to write on behalf of the Tribunals Service or the judiciary. Anne was until 2021 a tenant at Temple Tax Chambers from where she practised as a barrister, advising on a wide range of tax issues including employment and personal tax, VAT, social security and customs duties. As well as being a barrister, she is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, and a Fellow of both Institutes....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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